PARIS, March 7 — Moldova’s President Maia Sandu said today that Russia was renewing its efforts to destabilise her country and warned that, if President Vladimir Putin was not stopped in Ukraine, he continue to be a threat for the rest of Europe.
“If the aggressor is not stopped, he will keep going, and the frontline will keep moving closer. Closer to us. Closer to you,” Sandu said as she signed a defence and cooperation agreement with President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
“Europe must therefore present a united front. Aggression must be repelled by a strong force,” she said.
Macron said France would back Moldova.
“Moldova’s democratic reality and its inspiration about a European future, like Ukraine, are, in fact, a challenge for the Russia of Vladimir Putin,” Macron said, adding his country would strengthen cooperation to help it fight off what he called “hybrid attacks”.
Located on Ukraine’s southwestern border, former Soviet state Moldova has long expressed aspirations to move closer to the European Union, and says it is the target of Russian interference, mainly in the breakaway Transdnistria region.
With weak military forces, Moldova is seen as particularly vulnerable should the Ukraine war spill over to other Eastern European countries.
Earlier this week, Moldova’s spy chief said Russia was planning fresh attempts to meddle in the country’s internal affairs by provoking protests and interfering in upcoming presidential elections. — Reuters
